Becoming Outcasts
by RavenclawWitch18
Summary: How exactly did Star and Remus end up in the forest by Godric's Hollow? What kind of life did Sirius have before he met them. Becoming Outcasts follows Sirius, Remus and Star through their early years leading up to Outcasts and answers many questions about the lives of the three before they all met up.
1. Births

_Lupin Household, Rome, Italy_

Four year old Lupa was becoming rather impatient. It had been hours since her mother had gone into labor and her little brother or sister still hadn't been born. For a toddler, Lupa was extraordinarily patient. However, today her patience had been pushed to the limit. She had been extremely impatient as she waited to meet her new baby sibling. She had only kept mostly quiet about it because she accepted her parents explanation of the baby needed some time to grow inside mommy before it could be born. When her mother had gone into labor, Lupa had been very excited at finally meeting the baby. Ten minutes later, she was impatiently demanding an explanation from her father as to why she wasn't allowed to see the baby. She hadn't been at all satisfied at her father's explanation of babies taking a long time to be born.

"My little angel, won't you come sit down and read a book?" Her father coaxed.

Lupa shook her head and crossed her arms stubbornly. "No. I don't want to read. I want to see the new baby."

"The baby isn't here yet, darling."

"When will it get here?"

"The baby will come when it's ready. You have to be patient and wait darling."

Lupa, unused to getting what she wanted when she wanted it, or shortly after, looked as if she was preparing to throw one of her rare fits. Her father saw the look on her face and a frightened look stole over his face. His daughter's fits were legendary. She had only thrown two in her entire life and both had deeply shaken everyone who had witnessed them.

Thankfully, before she could start, the midwife entered the room. She immediately captured the attention of both the father and the little girl. Lupa paused for a moment to hear what she had to say before deciding if she would throw her fit.

"Congratulations Mr. Lupin. You have a son."

"The baby's here?" Lupa asked.

"Yes Miss. You have a little brother."

Lupa's entire demeanor changed. In the space of a second, she went from a very angry little child to one who radiated joy and happiness. It was a stark contrast to her father. Mr. Lupin's face had gone very pale and he looked neither joyful nor happy at the announcement. In fact, he looked rather upset and worried. Lupa didn't notice. She was too busy demanding that the midwife take her to see her brother. The midwife shot a questioning glance at her father, who nodded his permission, before gently taking the girl's hand and leading her into the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom, the lights were dim so as not to cause pain to Mrs. Lupin. Mrs. Lupin was lying on the bed looking utterly exhausted after nearly twelve hours of labor. She brightened a little upon the entrance of her beloved and cherished daughter but Lupa ignored her. She ran straight to the cradle sitting against the far wall and peered in. Inside the cradle, a little baby boy was sleeping, warmly wrapped in a blue blanket. What little hair he had was blonde.

"Lupa?" Mrs. Lupin asked hesitantly.

"He's adorable." Lupa breathed. "What's his name?"

"Remus." Her father answered, coming into the room at last.

Mr. Lupin went straight from the door to his wife's side. He didn't stop to look in the cradle or even shoot a glance in its direction. As far as he was concerned, the baby didn't exist. Lupa didn't notice that her father had completely ignored the baby or that he was now involved in a very hushed conversation with her mother. She was too absorbed in watching the baby sleep.

"Look at her. We can't tell her we don't want it. She's completely entranced by it. She'll never let us get rid of it." Her father hissed.

"We should have told her when we first discovered that I was pregnant again that we couldn't take care of another baby." Her mother hissed back.

"She would have never believed it. She's much too smart for that."

"You shouldn't have let her see it. Now's she's become attached to it and she'll be devastated when it dies in the next few months."

"Lupa was about to throw one of her rare fits." Mr. Lupin defended himself. "If I hadn't let her come in and see it, she would have thrown one for sure."

Mrs. Lupin sighed. "Well, what's done is done and there's nothing we can do but hope the baby will fall sick and die soon before she has too much time to get too attached."

"How long does it usually take before the curse kicks in?"

"A couple of weeks at least. It can sometimes take years though."

"We'll just have to hope for the best." Mr. Lupin said.

_Black Manor, Godric's Hollow, England_

Orion Black was sitting calmly in his favorite chair inside his personal sitting room. Unlike most fathers when their wives go into labor for their first time, Orion was not panicking in the slightest. Indeed, he was the perfect picture of serenity as he sat in his chair and read the morning newspaper. He believed that panicking was unbefitting of a Black, especially the Head of the family. Across from him on the couch, the nanny was sitting there nervously but patiently.

Walburga Black had been in labor for ten hours when the midwife entered the sitting room with a small smile on her face.

"Lord Black." She said.

Orion looked up from his paper with a blank look.

"You have a son, sir."

Orion nodded and folded up his paper carefully before getting up from his chair. He entered the master bedroom and crossed the room in a few strides to his wife's side. Walburga, looking exhausted yet regal, was holding a bundle wrapped in blue. She looked up as Orion reached her side and handed him the baby without ceremony.

"It's a son." She said shortly.

Orion looked down at the child in his arms and saw that his son was awake and looking at him. The boy, whose name they had decided was Sirius, had black hair and the traditional silver eyes of the family. Sirius was quiet, not making a sound or wiggling as his father held him.

"He is a fine child. I have no doubt that he will grow up healthy and strong, and one day become a fine head of the family. He will make a good match and when the time comes, take over the family business." Orion said.

Walburga nodded waved a dismissive hand. Acquiescing to his wife's wishes, he turned and took the child into the sitting room. The nanny was on her feet and attentive the moment he entered the room. In the same manner his wife had, he handed her the boy without ceremony.

"His name is Sirius. He is your responsibility now. See to it that he is raised properly and that he has everything he needs." Orion instructed.

The nanny nodded and gently cradled the child in her arms. Orion left the sitting room to instruct a servant to take the news down to the newspaper office at once. This would be the headline news for tomorrow. After all, there was nothing more important than the birth of the Black family's heir.

As soon as her employer was gone, the nanny, Lucille, looked down at the baby in her arms.

"I'm going to do my best to make sure that you receive some love in your life, Sirius." She whispered. "I'll give you all the love I can. You certainly won't be getting any from your parents."

Sirius merely blinked at her before giving a tiny yawn and falling asleep in her arms.

"Someday Sirius, I hope you fall in love with someone and get to marry them. You will be much happier if you do than if you make a match to please your parents." Lucille continued on, not minding that the baby was asleep. "Money isn't everything, my little pup. I hope you get the chance to know that."

With all her heart, she hoped that everything she told him would come to pass. Sirius deserved to have the happiness that his parents would surely deny him. But they would never say that they were denying him happiness. They would say that they were keeping him from the things that were bad for him, insisting that what they wanted for him was what was good for him. Some of it probably would be. Sirius would surely receive the best education possible and that would be good for him. But the rest, no the rest would not be good for him.

**AN: A bit of a shorter chapter than you're used to from the other story. One thing you should note, I have no idea if each chapter will contain two separate views like this one did. It all depends on how long one part is and when something happens for one of them at a certain point in their life, nothing interesting may be happening for the other at that time.**

**Now, before I get comments on how at the end of the Lupin family's part Star wasn't acting like a four year old, I want to let you all know that Star is not your average four year old. She's very smart for her age and an unusual child as well. Though she is capable of acting like other children her age as we saw at the beginning.**

**The curse that Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were talking about? I'll explain that in the author's note next chapter. So if you ask about it in your review, you'll probably get this answer.**

**One shots for Outcasts are coming. I simply can't get my train of thought to co-operate at the moment. I suspect Remus and Sirius. And possibly Star. So, if you'll excuse me, I have some hunting to do.**


	2. 11 Months

Things were suspiciously quiet in the Lupin nursery. Too quiet considering that there was a five year old and an eleven month old in the room. By all rights there should have at least been baby babble, possibly a tantrum or two. But instead everything was quiet. Lupa was sitting in a pile of cushions reading a book and Remus was busy crawling around and exploring the room to see what had changed in the last five minutes.

After exploring every nook and cranny, Remus crawled over to his older sister and sat down in front of her.

"Lu, Lu, Lu, Lu." He chanted, giggling.

Lupa closed her book and looked at the giggling baby in front of her.

"What do you want?" She asked with a smile.

In answer, Remus held his arms out to her. Lupa put her book to the side and stood up from the cushions. Taking Remus' hands, she pulled him to his feet. Even with the firm grip she had on him, he still wobbled unsteadily. She took a slow step back and Remus followed. In this manner, they crossed half of the room. When they reached the middle of the room, she suddenly let go of his hands. For a long moment, Remus wobbled in place and looked as if he was going to fall. Then he got his balance and looked up at Lupa. Lupa took five steps back before kneeling down and holding out her arms.

"Come here Remus. Come to Lupa." She said.

Remus' face took on a look of concentration and he slowly moved first one leg, then the other. Gaining speed, Remus continued taking steps until he crashed into Lupa's waiting arms. Lupa wrapped her arms around her brother and stood up, spinning the child around in a circle. Both of them were laughing when she finally stopped and set him down.

The siblings continued to make their way around the room. First Lupa would lead Remus by the hands for a minute. Then she would let go and back away from him, going back one extra step each time she did so. Most of the time, Remus was able to make it to the safety of her arms without falling. There were a few times that he fell before he could get there. Usually, he landed on his rear but once he fell face forward and hit the ground before Lupa could catch him. Thankfully the girl managed to sooth him before he worked himself into a proper fit.

It took them a full hour to make a complete circle of the room. When they finally reached the cushions, Lupa collapsed backwards on to them. Remus, wanting to prove that he could do everything his sister could, fell face forward onto the cushions and ended up landing on Lupa.

"Oof." Lupa said, shifting Remus to the side and sitting up. "You're heavy little one."

Remus merely gave her a baby grin and snuggled into her side. For several minutes, the two simply sat there in the cushions. It was a rare moment of peace and contentment. Something they hadn't had in a while. Or more accurately, that Lupa hadn't had in a while. Things had been undeniably tense between her and her parents ever since Remus was born. They had wanted her to let the servants raise him and to forget about him. Understandably, Lupa had been shocked and angry. She had waited nine long months to meet her baby brother and when he finally arrived, her parents told her to forget about him. Not a chance. Newborn Remus had captured his sister's attention and stolen her heart. She wasn't going to forget about him and she wasn't just going to let the servants raise him. Her parents hadn't been pleased with her decision and as a result, they hadn't spoken more than a handful of times in the last eleven months.

Lupa was brought out of her thoughts by a knocking on the door. She bade the person enter and one of the female servants entered, carrying a tray loaded with food.

"Lunch Miss Lupa." She said, setting the tray down on a low table.

Lupa's eyes lit up. She hadn't realized until now how hungry she was.

"Come on, Remus. Let's go have lunch." She said, once more getting up from the cushions.

She walked over to the table with Remus crawling behind her. The servant picked him up and set him down in one of the chairs. Lupa took the other one across from him.

"Miss Lupa, have you given any thought to how you would like to celebrate your brother's birthday? It is in a month, after all." The servant asked.

A sheepish look stole over the girl's face.

"No, I haven't. I will though and I'll let you know soon, alright."

The servant nodded and left them to eat their lunch.

Sirius was quietly playing with his blocks in one corner of the nursery while his nanny Lucille straightened up the room. She had just finished putting the last toy away when a knock came at the door. Hastening across the room, she opened the door to find her employers standing on the other side.

"Good afternoon Lord Black, Lady Black. Won't you come in?" She said, standing to the side so they could enter.

With only a nod of greeting, the Lord and Lady of the household entered the nursery. Walburga cast a critical eye around the room and noted with dull approval that everything was neat and tidy.

"Why did you request to see us?" Orion asked.

"Your son has just said his first word. His first two words, actually. I thought you might like to hear them since your son has started talking earlier than expected. Most children don't say their first word until after their first birthday." Lucille answered.

"Very well then." Orion said.

Lucille walked over and picked up Sirius who looked slightly upset at being taken away from his blocks but quickly calmed down after Lucille whispered a few soothing words to him. She brought him so that he was a few feet away from his parents.

"Alright Sirius. Show your mother and father your new words." Lucille said.

"Mum." Sirius said obediently, looking at his mother. "Dad." He said, turning his silver eyes to his father.

"Very good Sirius." Lucille praised.

She turned to look at her employers to see their reactions. Both Orion and Walburga were looking impressed and a little pleased.

"Good boy Sirius." Walburga said, surprisingly giving the boy a smile.

"Yes. Good indeed." Orion said.

Lucille set Sirius down on the floor and turned him towards his blocks.

"There you go, Sirius. Go play with your blocks."

Sirius happily crawled away and was soon stacking blocks on top of each other again. Lucille smiled at him for a moment before turning back to his parents.

"Was there anything else that you wanted?" Orion asked.

"Yes, my Lord. I wanted to ask you if there is anything specific that needs to be done for Sirius' birthday. It is only a few weeks away and I wanted to begin making preparations for it." Lucille said.

"There is. I will send a servant to you later today with a list of what needs to be done."

Lucille nodded.

"Very well, if that is all, then we must be going."

Orion and Walburga turned to the door and left the room. Just before he disappeared completely through the door, Orion paused and turned his head to look at his son. Lucille could have sworn that she saw something like pride flash through his eyes. Before she could be certain, Orion had turned away and was gone.

**AN: I think most of the chapters for this story are going to be about this long. I'm sure there will be some that will be longer but I can't say for sure yet.**

**I said in the author's note for the last chapter that I would explain the curse on the Lupin family in the author's note for this chapter. The curse comes from Mrs. Lupin's side of the family and affects every child but the first born. Most of the children born after the first child become ill and die before their first birthday. Those that make it past their first birthday usually become ill and die by their fourth. Now you have a better understanding of why Remus' parents didn't want him.**

**One thing you should know, Sirius is about three weeks older than Remus, who is almost eleven months. He's about two days away in this chapter.**

**In other news, I'm still suffering from partial writers block. I know what I want each chapter to contain but actually writing it is proving difficult. Remus and Sirius are definitely behind it as I nearly caught them playing around in the engine room of my train of thought. Still haven't determined if Star has a part in this. I'll let you know later.**

**Before I go, I would love it if those of you out there reading this story would take a minute to give me some feedback. This story is unbetaed and I sometimes miss mistakes. It also helps when people ask questions as it reminds me of things that I want to include in future chapters. I also love hearing from readers.**

**Now, I'm off to do some hunting.**


	3. First Birthdays

The general feeling in the Lupin household on the morning July 16 was a very happy one. Everyone woke up that morning in a good mood and walked around the house with a smile on their face. It was young Remus' first birthday and the enthusiasm and happiness that his older sister Lupa had displayed as she planned for her brother's birthday was infectious. Even Remus, though he was too young to know that it was his birthday woke up with a smile on his face that morning. It might have had something to do with waking up to Lupa's smiling face.

The day started off normally enough. Lupa and Remus had their breakfast in the playroom. Contrary to most children his age, Remus did not get most of his food on his clothes. It helped that his food consisted mostly of fruit and other things that did not stain the clothes. It also helped that Lupa mostly fed him herself, eating her own breakfast while Remus was chewing whatever she had just fed him.

After breakfast, because it was a nice day, Lupa called for two servants. One to carry her brother outside to the backyard and the other to retrieve their outside toys. The servant set Remus down underneath one of the shady trees in the backyard. Even though it was still fairly early in the morning, it was already very warm out. The other servant appeared a moment later carrying a box full of toys for the siblings to play with outside. Remus immediately crawled over to the box and pulled himself up using the sides. His walking had improved and he could go for a while without falling. But he still preferred to crawl some places. Once he was steady on his feet, he reached in and pulled out a ball.

"You want to play with the ball?" Lupa asked.

"Ba." Remus agreed sitting down.

Lupa moved the box out of the way and sat down a short distance from her brother. She gently rolled the ball towards him and Remus managed to stop it by slamming his hands down on top of the ball. He looked delighted with himself and then rolled the ball back to Lupa when she called to him.

The siblings played ball for a few hours, moving on to Lupa rolling the ball around the yard and letting Remus chase after it. When his short little legs finally became tired of running around the yard and he collapsed on the grass, Lupa picked up the ball one last time and put it back in the box. Then she sat down under the tree and leaned against the trunk.

"Come here Remus." She called.

Remus pushed himself to his hands and knees and crawled over to her. When he was close enough, Lupa reached out and pulled him to her side. Remus happily snuggled against her.

"Want to read a story?" Lupa asked.

Remus, worn out from playing all morning, nodded into her side. Lupa grabbed the book she had brought outside and opened it to the page that was marked. Moving the ribbon, she continued on where she had left off the night before when she was reading Remus to sleep.

Hours passed and without them realizing it, it was afternoon and time for lunch. As Lupa had instructed, all of the servants came outside with a picnic lunch and blankets to spread on the grass. They were also carrying presents for the birthday boy. Lupa had shocked them all when she had given them each a little bit of money to go into town and buy Remus a present. Lupa didn't notice the servants until they spread the blankets on the ground in front of them and began to set out the food.

"Are you and your brother ready for lunch, Miss Lupa?" The cook asked.

"Yes, we are." Lupa answered before gently nudging Remus who had fallen asleep against her. "Remus, wake up." She said softly.

Remus' mouth opened in a yawn as one hand came up to rub sleepily at one eye. His eyes opened and Lupa was confronted with green eyes, the same color as her own, giving her a grumpy look.

"Lunch time Remus." Lupa continued, still in the same soft voice.

That cheered Remus up. He sat up with a happier look and Lupa led him over to the nearest blanket. It was covered in all of their favorite foods. A servant immediately handed Lupa a plate filled with some of Remus' favorites and Lupa set about making sure that her brother didn't try and tear into his food the way he did last time. When she was satisfied, she turned her attention to her own plate.

Casual conversation sprung up amongst the gathered group. For once, positions were ignored and even the lowest servant engaged in a conversation with her betters. Lupa was debating which candy was better with the servant that usually helped her with Remus. And Remus was just happy to have all the attention.

Too soon lunch was over and it was time for Remus to open his presents, with some help from Lupa. The cook was the first to go as he had to get back to his kitchen to prepare dinner for the master and missus. Remus eagerly tore at the paper and seconds later he revealed a new toy top. The toy was decorated with a carved pattern around the top, alternating wolves and stars. Delighted with the toy, Remus attempted to pull the string but couldn't do it fast enough. Lupa leaned over and placed her hand on her brother's and together they pulled. The top spun around a few times before falling to the blanket. The blanket wasn't hard enough for it to spin longer.

More and more presents were handed over by various servants and Remus tore into all of them with the same eagerness he had the first one. A pattern was soon revealed amongst the presents. All of them from the female servants contained some type of clothes or something similar. From the men Remus received toys. When the last present had been opened an hour later to reveal a hat, Remus was exhausted. There was only so much a one year old could take and Remus had had his nap interrupted. He was leaning against Lupa and struggling to keep his eyes open. Lupa took the hat from him and handed it to the servant in charge of the clothes.

"I think that's enough for now." Lupa said softly. "If you'll leave the blanket here, I think he'll take his nap on it."

A servant nodded and the remaining group quietly stood up and slipped away. Remus had fallen asleep by now and Lupa slowly shifted him off of her and on to the blanket. Then, feeling rather tired herself Lupa laid down next to him and was asleep in minutes.

Sirius' first birthday was exactly as was expected for the Black heir. Sirius woke up at his usual time and went through his normal morning routine with Lucille. He was given his breakfast of porridge and fruit. He was dressed in the usual nice clothes that he wore every day. The only difference was that there was a small pile of presents piled in the center of his playroom. Like any curious child, Sirius immediately went straight for the pile the second Lucille set him down on the floor.

"Hold on Sirius." Lucille said.

She closed the door behind her before crossing the room to sit down next to the boy. She selected one of the presents from the top of the pile, instead of the one at the bottom that Sirius was trying to pull loose, and handed it to the boy. Sirius was immediately distracted by the present and took it. For once giving into his childish tendencies, Sirius tore into the paper without any sort of finesse. Lucille didn't scold him for it, deciding that on his birthday, Sirius could be allowed to act like the child he really was instead of the one his parents wanted. Thankfully the present Lucille had chosen was one of the ones that contained a toy. She knew that the majority of the packages contained clothes that would fit the growing heir in the next few months. His parents had thought that he should have more clothes and educational books than toys. Never mind the fact that he was only a year old and far too young to begin reading.

Sirius seemed pleased with the new set of wooden blocks he had received. He loved to play with his blocks and build things out of them. Lucille had the feeling that if she let him, Sirius would spend all day doing so. Sadly, she had her orders from his parents and they were completely different. Still, he spent a fair amount of time playing with the blocks. As expected, Sirius wasn't as pleased with the clothes he unwrapped but by now he had learned not to throw a tantrum about things. That didn't mean that he never threw one, but it usually took something major to set him off.

When the last present had been unwrapped, Lucille allowed Sirius to go play with his new toys. He could learn his shapes later. For now, he could be a child. He so rarely was allowed to do so that this one day a year, he could be allowed to do as he liked. Besides, who was going to tell the Black heir what he could and couldn't do? His parents didn't care so long as he behaved himself and they didn't have to concern themselves with him too much. That would come later. And they would likely agree that on the day he was born, Sirius deserved to do whatever he wanted.

When lunch time rolled around, Lucille picked Sirius up and checked him over to make sure he was presentable. Today was their weekly lunch with his parents and they couldn't be late. Deciding that he was presentable, Lucille placed him on her hip and quickly made her way from the playroom down the stairs, and into the dining room. Thankfully Orion and Walburga had not yet arrived and so Lucille was able to get Sirius situated in his chair before they arrived. And not a moment too soon. The second Sirius was secure and Lucille had stepped back behind him, Orion and Walburga arrived.

"Sit." Orion ordered, barely sparing a glance at Lucille.

Lucille quickly took her seat next to Sirius while her masters sat down at the head of the table. A minute later several servants entered the room bearing dishes and trays of food. These were set down in front of Orion and his wife. Plates were placed in front of each person and silverware was passed out. Glasses of wine were poured and Sirius was given his usual glass of milk. When Orion had said the required grace, Lucille began to fill Sirius' plate with food, cutting them down into smaller pieces for the boy.

"How did Sirius like his presents?" Walburga asked.

"He was very pleased with them. Especially the new blocks. He immediately added them to his others and began to build new things with them." Lucille answered.

Walburga gave a small smile before turning her attention back to her food. The rest of the meal passed in silence the way it usually did, the only sound being the clatter of silverware against plates. Lucille was just beginning to wonder if the question about the presents was going to be the only mention of Sirius' birthday the boy got. When Orion had given her the instructions last week, she had thought that meant they would at least wish the boy a happy birthday. Oh well, it's not like Sirius was old enough to care.

When the last bite of lunch had been eaten, servants came in and cleared the table. Lucille waited for the dismissal to take Sirius back to his nursery but it never came. Before she could figure out a way to politely bring the subject up, the servants reentered the room, this time bearing a modest sized cake. Across the top of the cake written in blue icing was the words Happy Birthday, Sirius. Lucille was surprised. She could have sworn that she had told the cook to send the cake up to the nursery where she and Sirius would each have a piece after lunch.

A knife was presented to Orion who used it to cut three regular sized pieces and one smaller piece. One of the regular sized pieces was passed to Lucille, along with the smaller one for Sirius. Sirius looked delighted at being given a sugary snack so soon after lunch. He didn't wait for permission before digging in with his hands. Lucille looked up to see that his parents' mouths were pressed into thin lines but they said nothing, choosing to ignore it and eat their cakes.

Once the cake had been eaten and the rest cleared away, Lucille was given permission to take Sirius back to the nursery. She carried the now sleepy boy on her hip back up the stairs and took him into his room to lay him down in his cradle. Sirius was out the moment she laid him down and Lucille was careful not to disturb him as she pulled the blanket up over him. Before she left to go to her room next door, she looked down at the sleeping child and leaned over to place a soft kiss on his forehead.

"Happy Birthday, my little pup." She whispered.

Lucille left the room and closed the door quietly behind her without looking back at the boy. Had she done so, she would have seen the smile on Sirius' face as he slept on.

**AN: I meant to post this yesterday, but it wasn't quite finished. When I tried to finish it, my brain just would not cooperate. I guess that's the downside of going on a retreat for the weekend. **

**So, what do you think of the boy's birthdays? Do you think they're accurate? I tried my best to keep with how their family life is.**

**I actually don't have much to say this week. Looks like I'm still distracted. That, and I have class in an hour. So, for now I'll leave you with this recommendation. Check out Harry Potter: Dark Memories by BlueOwl. It's a very good one and one of my top 10 non Wolfstar fics.**


	4. Announcements

It was a rather rainy day in Rome and Lupa and Remus were in their nursery playing hide and seek. Lupa was currently hunting for her brother. Despite only being a year and a half old, Remus was rather good at the game. Being small enough to hide in places that Lupa couldn't helped.

Lupa had just knelt down next to the gap between two bookcases to see if Remus was in there when the nursery door opened. Mildly curious, Lupa looked over her shoulder to see who it was and froze. Standing in the doorway looking much the same as they had the last time she had seen them, were her parents. Lupa hadn't been entirely sure that they even knew where the nursery was. Obviously they did.

"Mother, Father, what brings you here?" She asked.

Remus poked his head out from behind their toy chest to see who she was talking to and Lupa swiftly made her way over to him. It probably would have been best if she had remained where she was as that would have kept their parents' attention on her and away from Remus. But Lupa wasn't sure how Remus would react to seeing their parents. As far as she could recall, they had never once visited the boy.

As expected, neither John nor Mary paid the slightest bit of attention to their son. Instead, they focused on their daughter.

"Your father and I had something we wanted to share with you." Mary said brightly.

Lupa winced at the false note in her mother's voice. Whatever it was that they wanted to tell her, it wasn't good. The last time her mother used that voice, she had tried to convince her to give Remus away. Needless to say that hadn't gone over very well.

"What?" She asked warily.

"We're moving to England." John said cheerfully, as if announcing that there would be a play in the square the next day.

"What?" Lupa said flatly.

John and Mary's smiles became even more forced. Clearly they had been hoping that Lupa wouldn't be so difficult about this. After all, it would be a chance for her to explore new places and make new friends.

"We're moving to a lovely little town called Oxford. It's said to be very peaceful and quite. You'll have plenty of room to run around and play." Mary said.

"That's right." John said. "Lots of fields where you can pick flowers and play with the new friends you'll make there."

Lupa's eyes hardened at that. She may have only been six, but she was smart enough to recognize when her parents were trying to separate her from her brother. Still, Lupa hesitated before flat out protesting against it. It might be good for Remus if they moved. A new village meant a place where adults didn't know that the elder Lupin's despised their youngest child and the other children didn't mock her brother and call him mean names. Remus might not be old enough to understand what the other children were saying, but he was smart enough to recognize the mean and mocking tone the children used when he was around. It broke Lupa's heart every time they went out to the market and she saw the tears in his eyes. Perhaps moving would be best.

"Fine." Lupa sighed at last. "But only if you find a big house with a big yard. Remus and I want plenty of room to run and play."

John and Mary's faces took on slightly bitter looks at the mention of Remus but weren't stupid enough to say anything about him. They correctly guessed that if they said anything about or against him then Lupa would change her mind in a heartbeat. So they said nothing.

"Of course we'll have a big house and yard." Mary promised.

"Absolutely." John agreed. "You need plenty of room to run and stretch your legs. We'll see what we find when we get there. In the meantime, you'll want to start packing. We leave in a month."

With that announcement, John and Mary took their leave. Lupa heaved a sigh of relief that they hadn't said a word about Remus and that Remus had behaved himself and stayed next to her.

"Well, mio fratello, it looks like we're moving." She said with a smile.

Remus gave her one of his charming baby smiles. "Lu." He said.

"What do you want now, a story?" Lupa asked, smile growing.

Remus nodded eagerly and toddled over to the bookshelf where his chubby hands struggled to pull out a book. Lupa followed him and pulled the book out for him.

"This one?" She asked looking at the cover. "Again?"

Remus nodded, pointing at the book and babbling something incomprehensible.

"Alright. Come on then."

The siblings made their way over to the pile of cushions and sat down. Lupa opened the book and began to read.

**OoO**

If Lucille had known to expect it, she would have made sure that Sirius was presentable when his parents found them playing outside, enjoying the gentle warmth of the sun. But she hadn't been expecting and Sirius was a muddy mess when his parents paid their surprise visit. To be fair, Sirius was only a year and a half old and like any other child his age, he loved running around outside and exploring. And that usually resulted in dirty clothes.

Lucille hadn't even known they were there until she happened to glance up from her morning paper and saw her employers standing in the shade of the house surveying the scene. Sirius noticed his parents at the same time she did and stopped playing immediately.

"Mother. Father." He said respectfully, which was an achievement for someone as muddy as he was.

Lucille watched her employers anxiously, wondering if she and possibly Sirius were about to get into trouble regarding the state of his clothes. As she watched, Lucille saw an unmistakable smile flash across Orion's face. It was only there a moment, but long enough that she could see it. Orion looked oddly pleased at finding his son and heir in this state.

"Lord Black, I apologize for the state of your son's clothes." Lucille apologized.

Orion waved a dismissive hand in her direction. Walburga's lips thinned but she said nothing. Sirius was still watching his parents warily. The very first lesson he had learned as soon as he had been old enough was that he was not to speak to his parents unless spoken to first. He was only allowed to break that rule if there was an emergency.

"Sirius, your mother has something important she wants to tell you." Orion announced.

Sirius still said nothing but expectantly turned towards his mother. Judging by the look on Walburga's face, she wasn't happy at being forced to share this news. Perhaps she had been hoping Orion would instead. Walburga wasn't a fool though. She knew better than to argue with her husband in front of her son.

"I have been to see the doctor." Walburga said.

"Are you alright, mother?" Sirius asked.

Walburga nodded and for the first time, Lucille caught a hint of pleasure flash across the woman's face.

"The doctor has told me that I am expecting a baby. You will have a brother or a sister."

Sirius' face lit up. Lucille knew that he was excited about that. He had often said that he wanted a little sibling. Sirius had once told her all of the things he would teach his sibling and all of the games they would play together. It was cute.

"When?" Sirius asked eagerly, his child side showing through.

"In nine months." Walburga answered.

There was finality in her tone and Orion noticed it. He recognized that his wife was done talking and wisely decided that perhaps they should leave before she became too irritated. Gently taking her by the arm, he made to lead her from the yard.

Sirius watched his parents leave with the same blank look on his face that he had when he first noticed that they were there. As soon as they were gone, he turned to Lucille with a bright smile on his face.

"I'm going to be a big brother." He announced.

Lucille smiled. "Yes. You are."

That was all the encouragement Sirius needed to launch into an explanation of all the things he would teach the baby.

**AN: Surprise! I am still alive. I'm sorry I haven't updated the story in the last few weeks. It seems my train of thought decided to pull into 'Spring Break Station' a week early. I've had to track down all of the characters (and not just the ones for this story) and get them back on the train before the train would leave the station. It helps that I made a rough outline for this story and now have an idea what each chapter is supposed to contain.**

**On the bright side, I do hope to have the next two chapters up later today. Tomorrow at the latest. That will bring the story to the point where it should be today.**

**In the meantime, how have your last few weeks been?**


	5. New House

Remus was absolutely entranced as he stared up at the big house in front of him. It was bigger than anything he had ever seen in his very short life and his young mind was having trouble comprehending that such a thing could exist. And to make it even better, this house was theirs according to Lupa.

"Remus." A familiar voice called.

The two year old turned and saw his sister walking towards him from the carriage they had spent forever riding in. Remus hated carriages but he loved horses. It was always fun when Lupa had allowed him to ride on one of the horses for a short time.

"Are you ready to go inside?" Lupa asked when she reached the toddler.

Remus nodded eagerly and turned and ran towards the really big house. He could hear Lupa laughing behind him as she ran to catch up. Because her legs were longer, she caught up easily and took his hand. They slowed as they reached the open front door and Remus' eyes grew bigger as he saw the inside of the house for the first time. There was a very long hall on the other side of the door with many doors leading off of it, some open, some closed.

Remus tugged his hand free of Lupa's and immediately ran down the hall. He dashed through the first open door he came to which turned out to be a small closet. It didn't deter him at all and after exploring it for a minute, he darted back into the hall and through the next door. This room was much better. It was a lot bigger and offered the toddler more chances to explore.

Remus could hear Lupa enter the room behind him but he was more concerned with exploring the room. There were curtains that reached the floor and many large pieces of furniture which offered him plenty of chances to hide behind them and see what was there. Occasionally he found something interesting and immediately ran to wherever Lupa was to show her. Lupa looked pleased by the things he brought her and that was enough incentive for Remus to keep exploring.

After several hours of exploring the first floor of the house, Lupa gently called to Remus. Remus poked his head out from behind a curtain.

"Come on Remus. Time for lunch." She said.

Lunch sounded like a good idea to the little boy so he happily ran out from behind the curtain and took Lupa's hand. His sister led him outside to the backyard where servants were spreading blankets and unpacking food. They took a seat on the nearest blanket and were immediately served sandwiches, fruit and drinks.

Like any other toddler, Remus tore into his food, not stopping to chew half the time. Lupa watched him in amusement as she ate her lunch at a much slower pace. When Remus had finally finished the last bite of his fruit, he jumped up, eager to continue exploring the new house and yard. As he was already outside, he decided to explore the yard. Lupa joined him ten minutes later when she finished her lunch. Exploring the yard quickly turned into a game of tag.

"I'm going to get you." Lupa called.

Remus giggled and ran towards the opposite end of the yard. Lupa chased after him. She would have caught him had Remus not noticed a small opening in the nearby hedges and ducked into it. He wiggled his way through the branches and to his surprise, they gave way to a small clearing. It was big enough for him to sit comfortably and looked like it would hold Lupa as well. Narrow beams of sunlight shone on the ground through the small holes in the branches above his head.

"Remus?" Lupa called, wondering where her brother had gone.

"Lu." Remus called back.

Lupa spotted a small opening in the hedges and realized that it was just big enough for Remus to crawl through. She knelt down in front of it and peered into the branches.

"Remus?" She called again.

A shadow in the branches moved and then Remus' grinning face was peering back at her.

"Lu." He said happily.

"How in the world did you get in there?" Lupa wondered, seeing the tangle of branches that should have prevented her brother from getting as far in as he had.

Remus' answer was a cute baby grin. "Come?" He asked.

"Maybe" Lupa answered, cautiously edging her way into the branches.

It took her a good five minutes to find her way through the branches. It didn't help that her dress and hair kept catching on the branches either. Finally Lupa made it to the middle of the hedges where her brother was waiting.

"Pretty." Was Remus' greeting when she finally sat next to him.

Lupa first thought he was talking about her. She knew she was a bit of a mess. There were grass stains on her dress where she had first knelt then crawled through the grass. Small tears covered her sleeves and there were a few scratches on her arm where the branches had gotten to her. Strands of hair had been pulled loose from her neat braid and were sticking out from her head. Then Remus pointed up at a shaft of light that was shining down through the branches and making the air shimmer.

"Very pretty." Lupa agreed.

She took a moment to look around the clearing her brother had found and Remus went back to watching the way the air shimmered in the sunlight. A butterfly fluttered through the branches and landed on a branch not far from Remus.

Entranced by the pretty colors, the toddler set about trying to catch it. All he succeeded in doing was making the butterfly move from one branch to the next. After a few minutes of failing to catch the pretty butterfly, Remus began to grow frustrated.

"No, no, Remus." Lupa said gently, pushing the outstretched hands down. "Mustn't disturb the butterfly."

Remus looked ready to cry and Lupa placed a finger on her lips. The little boy bit his lips to hold back his sobs and watched as Lupa held out a hand. Nearly two minutes later, the butterfly landed lightly on her outstretched hand. Remus' eyes grew wide and he started to reach out towards it when Lupa shook her head slightly.

Slowly, so as not to startle the butterfly, she brought her hand closer to her brother. Her free hand gently took hold of one of Remus' hands and curled all but his first finger in towards his palm. She then took the finger and placed it lightly on her hand, a few inches in front of the butterfly. Remus' eyes grew even wider when the butterfly walked across Lupa's hand and climbed up on his finger. Lupa dropped her hand when the butterfly was fully on Remus' finger.

Remus stared at the butterfly in fascination as he carefully brought it closer to his face.

"Not too close Remus." Lupa murmured.

Remus barely heard his sister. His attention was focused entirely on the pretty butterfly. Some part of his mind registered the instruction and his hand stopped several inches away from his face. His eyes traced the swirls of colors that decorated the wings. Without realizing it, his free hand had come up to trace over the patterns. It was stopped by Lupa's hand and Remus understood that he was not to touch the wings.

After what seemed like a long time to the little boy, the butterfly began to flap its wings and flew off into the branches. Remus watched it go quietly and when it was gone he turned to Lupa. Lupa looked down at him and smiled.

The peace was interrupted by familiar voices coming from outside their hiding spot. Remus recognized a few of them as the servants that attended to him and his sister.

"Mistress Lupa? Master Remus?" The servants called.

"Here." Lupa called back.

After several minutes of searching, the servants finally located their young masters.

"Mistress Lupa? Are you alright?" A man asked, kneeling down outside the opening in the hedges.

"We're fine John." Lupa answered.

"Well, if you are certain." John said. "We were just worried when we could not find you in the house or the yard."

"Remus found a hiding spot while we were playing tag. We'll come out in a little while." Lupa assured him.

"Very well mistress." John stood up and went back to his task of moving furniture into the house.

When he was gone, Lupa looked back down at her brother.

"Want to go explore the rest of the house?"

Remus' face lit up at the idea of more exploring and he nodded eagerly. Lupa crawled out first and Remus followed behind. When they stood up, Lupa brushed the dirt and leaves from their clothes as best as she could. Then without a word, they reached for each other's hand and took off running to the house.

**AN: Well, this chapter took an unexpected turn. I wasn't planning on incorporating Remus' POV but the story decided that's what was needed. It turned out longer than I thought it would as well. I thought since I was only covering Lupa and Remus that it would be shorter but again the story decided that wasn't what it wanted. I'm curious, what did you all think of having a little bit of Remus' POV in this chapter?**

**At the moment, the next chapter does not contain Sirius' POV but that could change. So far I've got about a quarter of it written and it does not appear. We'll see what happens when I finish it later tonight.**

**One last thing, it would help me in writing the chapters if more people would review. So far for this story, only one person has reviewed for each chapter and it is the same reader. I'm very grateful Bottlebrush, that you take the time to review every chapter but now I understand what authors mean when they say that it's hard to write when you get few reviews. I know that there are people out there reading it and I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the time to type out a sentence or two letting me know what you think.**


	6. Big Brother

Sirius was normally a patient child. Despite the fact that he was only two and a half years old and could be considered a spoiled child because he had never been denied anything he wanted, Sirius had never once thrown a tantrum because he had not been given what he wanted immediately. Lucille had taught him early on that it would sometimes take a while before he received what he wanted and that patience was rewarded.

Over the last eight months though, Sirius' patience had disappeared. As he was only two years old, Sirius hadn't really understood just how long nine months really was. He had thought that his baby brother or sister would be born soon. When the baby hadn't been born he had asked questions and grew more and more impatient as the months passed.

"When is the baby going to be born?" Sirius asked impatiently.

Lucille hid her smile from the irritated child, knowing it would only make him more irritated if he saw it, and patiently answered.

"Soon Sirius. The baby will be born any day now."

Sirius gave no answer to that, merely giving her an annoyed look before turning back to his blocks.

An hour passed quietly with Sirius building a castle and Lucille reading her book. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by a hurried knock at the door. Lucille looked up but before she could bid the person enter the door flew open and a rather frazzled looking servant entered. Lucille frowned as the servant approached and bent down to whisper in her ear.

"Lady Black went into labor last night. Lord Black requests that you bring his son to the study next to the master bedroom so that the young master may meet his sibling when the child is born."

Lucille nodded and the servant left. She set her book to the side and looked over at her young charge.

"Sirius, your father wants to see you." She said.

"Why?" He asked in a whiny tone.

"Your mother is having the baby."

Sirius instantly brightened at that. He abandoned his blocks and crossed the room to Lucille who had stood from the chair. Lucille bent down and smoothed out a few wrinkles in Sirius' clothes before picking him up.

Sirius watched with wide eyes as Lucille carried him through a maze of corridors that he hadn't seen before. The little boy had never visited his parents' wing of the manor before. Every time he had seen them, it was somewhere else, usually in the dining room. The décor of his parents' wing was vastly different from the décor of his own wing.

Lucille knocked on a plain door which was answered by a servant a moment later.

"What is your purpose?" The servant asked.

"I've brought Lord Black's son as he requested." Lucille answered, shifting Sirius on her hip.

The servant noticed the young master and nodded. She stepped back and allowed the two to enter. Orion was sitting in the same armchair he had sat in two years ago when he wife was giving birth to Sirius. There was another unfamiliar woman sitting on the same couch that Lucille had sat on while she waited for her charge to be born. Lucille correctly guessed that this was the new baby's nanny.

She set Sirius down and took his hand before crossing the room to stand in front of Orion's chair. The elder Black looked up and gave a cursory glance to the nanny before focusing his attention on his heir.

"Sirius." He said after a long minute.

"Good afternoon, father." Sirius said, not showing a trace of the impatience he had displayed not ten minutes ago. Again, Lucille inwardly marveled at how well Sirius was able to behave when around his parents.

"How is mother?"

"Your mother is fine. The baby will be born soon. Until then you may wait here." Orion turned back to his evening papers. In three sentences he had answered his son's question and dismissed him at the same time.

Lucille took Sirius' hand and led him over to an unoccupied corner of the room. The servant who had answered the door had disappeared through the door that connected the sitting room with the master bedroom. The new nanny had picked up a book and was attempting to read through it though Lucille noticed that her eyes weren't moving and were instead focused on a single point on the page.

She ignored both of them and sat down with Sirius on a couch. She pulled out one of his books from her bag and proceeded to read to him. The next hour and a half passed in this way. Sirius had learned to recognize two new words in his book. The silence was interrupted by the midwife entering the room.

"Lord Black."

Orion looked up.

"You have another son." The midwife announced.

Orion simply nodded before folding up his newspaper and standing to go see his wife. Sirius looked up at Lucille as his father disappeared into the next room.

"Is the baby here?" He asked with wide eyes.

Lucille nodded. "Yes, Sirius. You have a baby brother."

Sirius' face broke into a grin and he began to bounce excitedly on the couch.

"When can I see him?" He demanded.

"Don't bounce on the couch Sirius." Lucille scolded. Sirius stopped bouncing. "You can see him when your father brings him in here. Let your father have a few minutes to see his new son."

Sirius pouted but nodded in agreement. He turned his attention to the door and stared at it eagerly, waiting for his father to come through with his new brother. It was a full five minutes, which felt like an eternity to the little boy, before Orion returned to the room with a small bundle wrapped in blue in his arms. As Lucille had done, the new nanny stood up and faced her employer as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Here. He's your responsibility now." Orion said shortly as he handed the bundle to her.

Without another word, he turned and went back into the bedroom. As soon as his father had gone, Sirius was on his feet and tugging Lucille over towards the nanny.

"I want to see my brother." Sirius demanded.

The nanny, unaccustomed to dealing with Sirius, looked to Lucille for guidance on what she should do. Behind Sirius, Lucille nodded, telling the woman to let Sirius see his brother. The nanny sat back down on the couch and Lucille picked Sirius up and set him next to her. Sirius knelt up on his knees and peered over the nanny's arm at the little face peeking out from the blanket.

"What's that?" He asked curiously, reaching over to point to the black fuzz on the baby's head.

Lucille's hand kept him from touching.

"That's his hair Sirius."

"Really?" Sirius asked, looking up at his nanny

"Yes. It will be a while before his hair looks like yours though. He has to grow a bit bigger first."

"Oh." Sirius thought about that for a minute. Then another question that was much more important occurred to him.

"What's his name?"

"Regulus." The new nanny replied.

The baby in question yawned and closed his eyes. That was the cue for Lucille to pick Sirius up and make her way to the door.

"You can visit your brother later Sirius. Right now he's tired and wants to take a nap."

Sirius offered no protest, feeling rather tired himself. He put his head on Lucille's shoulder and allowed her to carry him back to his nursery.

**AN: Yes, I know this is a few days later than when I planned. All I can say is that college decided to make itself known.**

**I was planning on putting a short game at the end of this chapter but seeing as how there's only two days until Sunday, I think I'll wait until the next chapter to do so. Don't worry, it will be fun.**

**I was also planning on breaking whatever feels you may have by recommending a story that would leave you crying for a good ten minutes. Luckily, I got reviews that made me smile and decide not to do it right now. That could change though. Leave reviews unless you want me to break your feels.**


	7. Favored

Even though Sirius was only three years old, he was a very smart and observant child. He had learned at an early age how he was expected to behave. There were times though, when he didn't behave as he was supposed to. He was only three after all. He was a toddler and toddlers were prone to misbehaving at times. Despite all that though, Sirius still saw and understood things that other children his age didn't.

It hadn't taken Sirius long to figure out that his parents didn't love him or even care about him. They barely looked at him and only rarely would one of them talk to him. When that happened, it was usually his father that spoke to him. Sirius had the feeling that his father cared for him a little bit more than his mother did. Because of the way his parents treated him, Sirius had simply assumed that all children were treated the same way he was.

That was why when Sirius saw his mother going into the room he knew to be his brother's nursery, he was instantly curious. In all of his three years, his mother had only visited this wing of the house a few times and only because Lucille had summoned his parents. Sirius tried to sneak over to the door to see if he could see what his mother was up to. Tried being the operative word. He hadn't taken more than two steps when Lucille appeared in the doorway of his own nursery.

"Sirius, come back here. You know you're not supposed to be wandering off without me."

Sirius considered throwing a tantrum to get his way but quickly realized that was not a good idea with his mother so close. Sighing, he turned back to his nursery. He made sure that his face showed exactly how unhappy he was at not being allowed to do what he wanted. Of course, it never worked on Lucille. While she did give him what he wanted most of the time, she would never give him something that went against his parents' wishes. Lucille pointed at his miniature desk and Sirius sighed as he sat down and began to copy the sentences she had written out for him.

It was a good half hour later before Sirius got over being grumpy enough to ask Lucille why his mother was here.

"Lucille?" He asked.

"Yes Sirius?" Lucille said, looking up from her book.

"Why is my mother visiting Regulus' nursery?"

Lucille frowned. "What do you mean, Sirius?"

"I saw my mother going in Regulus' nursery."

Lucille continued to frown as she considered why Walburga would be visiting her youngest son. Regulus was too young to be learning anything so the nanny wouldn't have summoned her for that. Perhaps the child was ill and Walburga had come to see how he was faring? That was possible. Sirius, in the three years he had been alive, had never once taken ill so there had never been an opportunity to see if that was a possibility.

"Perhaps your brother is ill." She said at last.

Sirius' eyes widened. "I have to see him."

Lucille had to smile at that. Though Sirius didn't get to see his brother often as all Regulus did was sleep most of the time, Sirius was still very protective of him. It was cute watching how Sirius would stand protectively over his brother in his cradle and watch him with a look of awe.

"Let me talk to his nanny first Sirius. He may not be sick. I don't know for sure." She compromised.

Sirius looked put out at that but conceded with a nod. He turned his attention back to his copying and Lucille went back to pursuing her book. Sometime later another servant knocked on the door and Lucille opened it. The servant entered the room carrying a tray loaded with afternoon tea. Sirius eagerly dropped his quill and scampered over to the table. He ignored the pot of tea and reached straight for the cookies he could see on the plate behind the pot. Lucille smiled at that as she poured Sirius a small glass of milk from the pitcher on the tray.

While Sirius was busy stuffing cookies in his mouth and washing them down with milk, Lucille took a moment to have a conversation with the servant.

"Is everything alright with young Regulus?" She asked.

The servant appeared startled by this information. "He was fine when I saw him an hour ago. Why do you ask?"

Lucille frowned. "Sirius said he saw Lady Black entering the nursery not too long ago. I wondered if perhaps Regulus had taken ill and his nanny had summoned Lady Black to see him."

The servant shook her head. "No Miss. I believe young master Regulus is as healthy as he could possibly be."

"Very well then. Thank you for the tea. You may return in an hour to collect the tray."

The servant left and Lucille took her seat next to Sirius at the table. Seeing the mess her young charge had made, she quickly took a napkin and set about cleaning him up. When that was done and Sirius had turned to playing with his top, Lucille was able to take a small break and have her tea.

An hour later, after the servant had returned for the tray and Sirius had been put down for his nap, Lucille stole across the hall to Regulus' nursery and knocked on the door. The other nanny opened the door moments later, knowing that Lucille would usually visit during this time to give her advice.

"How is master Sirius today?" Faith asked.

"He is as full of energy as ever." Lucille answered.

Faith smiled. The first thing she had learned about Sirius besides the fact that he was the oldest child and heir of her employers was that he had boundless energy.

"And young master Regulus? How is he?"

Faith's smile grew. "Very well. He has started trying to roll over and if you put him on his stomach in front of a few toys he'll use his arms and legs to push himself over to them."

Lucille had a soft reminiscent smile on her face as she remembered when Sirius had first started doing that. The look of happiness on his little face whenever he accomplished had always made her smile. Then she frowned as she recalled why she had come to visit.

"Has Lady Black been here to visit her son?"

Faith smiled proudly. "Yes, she's been by to visit him a few times. She doesn't stay long but she always stays at least a few minutes."

Lucille's frown deepened and she quickly hid it, not wanting the younger woman to realize that that was odd. Lady Black had never visited her eldest unless Lucille had sent for her and her husband to see what Sirius had learned.

Lucille remained a while longer, chatting with Faith and advising her to let Regulus learn to roll over in his own time. When she felt she had stayed long enough that it would not be odd if she left, Lucille bid the other nanny goodbye and made her way back to Sirius' nursery.

As she sat in her rocking chair and gazed at her young charge, Lucille thought about what Faith had told her about Lady Black visiting Regulus and the possible reasons for her doing so. For the longest time, nothing came to her. Lucille had known from the moment she met her that Lady Black was not the nurturing type or the type to care about what happened to her children after they were born. So it made no sense that she would suddenly take an interest in her youngest child and visit him randomly.

After a while, Lucille began to wonder if it was possible that Lady Black favored her younger son over her elder. There was no reason for her to. After all, Sirius was the one who would carry on the family name. But it was the only thing she could come up with that fit.

Before she could consider it further, Sirius yawned and began to wake up. As she stood up to get Sirius up from his bed, Lucille resolved not to tell her young charge that his mother favored his younger brother over him. She didn't know what she would tell him. Only that she wouldn't tell him the truth.

**AN: Alright, someone had better give me a good reason as to why I shouldn't kill Sirius. The mangy mutt has pulled the emergency brake on my train of thought no less than twenty times this week and stole the plot monkey at least twice. It has made getting this chapter done very difficult. So if you want him to live, you had better give me a good reason as to why I should let him.**

**On a different note, I finally sat down and read through Outcasts the way you guys saw it. Going through it like that, I have to say it turned out better than I thought. I spotted a few minor mistakes that I will be correcting here sometime soon so you can expect to see Outcasts jump up your updated stories list.**

**While still on that subject, I've nearly finished the first one shot that will go with that particular story. Hopefully it will be done soon. I make no promises as I've got a busy day tomorrow and I have a five page paper due on the first that I haven't even started.**

**Since I got more reviews, I'll hold off on destroying whatever feels you may have at the moment. That could change though. Instead, I'll move onto the game I mentioned. (At least I think I did.)**

**Anyways, you have the opportunity to invite seven characters or actors to have dinner with you. All of you are eating dinner at the same time and the same table. The table is a round one. The chair you are sitting in is chair number 1. The chair immediately to your right is number 2 and so on around the table ending with number 8 on your left.**

**Which characters or actors would you invite and where at the table would you have them sit?**

**To clear up any confusion you may have, the characters and actors can be from any fandom you choose. It can be seven characters, seven actors or a mixture. Whatever you want. Don't forget who you invite and where they sit as you'll need it next chapter. I'll also reveal my table next chapter as well. I'm looking forward to seeing who you invite.**

**Until next time.**


	8. Full Moon

Lupa glanced at the clock on the wall of her brother's room as she waited for Remus to come back from his bath. It was only eight-thirty. There was still some time before Remus needed to be in bed. Glancing once more at the door, Lupa went back to straightening up the room. It had been a mess recently because Remus had decided that he wanted his room redone. Lupa had just had her room repainted and Remus, wanting to do everything she did, had asked if they could do his. So they had painted it blue and put down matching carpet. The result was rather soothing.

Lupa placed the last book on the bookshelf by the bed as the door opened. Four year old Remus came running in, hair still damp from his bath, and threw himself at his sister. Lupa staggered slightly as she caught him. She was stronger than most of the girls in the village but Remus was rather heavy for a four year old and he had been running at full speed.

"Merlin Remus." She groaned. "You're getting too big for that."

"Nuh uh." Remus said, looking up at her with a childish smile.

Lupa laughed. "Come on little one. Time for bed."

Remus ran towards his bed and leaped into the middle, making a mess of the covers. He dove underneath them looking for his favorite stuffed dog. Paddy had been a fourth birthday gift for Remus and the little boy fell in love with the shaggy black dog and hadn't slept without it since.

"Lu, Paddy's not here." Remus said, popping up with a look of worry on his face. "I think I left him outside."

Lupa glanced involuntarily at the dark window next to her brother's bed. Remus wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"You'll have to wait until morning to get him." She said gently.

"But, Paddy." Remus said, eyes filling with tears as he turned to look out his window.

"I'm sorry Remus. But you know it's not safe to go outside after dark. There are many dangerous things out there waiting to hurt people. We'll go get him first thing in the morning."

Remus still looked as if he was going to cry but was doing his best to hold the tears back.

"Before breakfast?" He asked.

"Before breakfast." Lupa promised. "Now, do you want to read the next chapter?"

Remus shook his head and burrowed deep into the covers. Lupa sighed and placed a kiss on his forehead, fingers brushing away the few tears that had slipped free. She got up from the bed and blew out the candle before she crossed the room to the door. She closed the door softly behind her and went to take her own bath.

"Is everything alright Miss?" A female servant named Emily asked as Lupa began to undress.

Lupa sighed. "Fine Emily. Remus left Paddy outside and he was very upset when I told him we couldn't get Paddy tonight."

Emily nodded sympathetically. "It must have been hard to tell him no."

"It was." Lupa agreed as she slipped into the bath.

The eight year old managed to put it out of her mind for the next fifteen minutes. A warm bath never failed to relax her and make her forget whatever was on her mind. More than once she had fallen asleep in the warm water and was awoken some time later by a servant who had noticed that she had not emerged from the bath.

As she was buttoning up her night gown, Emily burst into the bathroom without knocking.

"Miss Lupa, your brother. He's not in his bed." The servant gasped.

Lupa forgot about the last button and hurried out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into Remus' room. A quick glance at the bed showed her that the covers were pulled back and that Remus was not in them. Hoping that Remus had simply wandered off and was hiding somewhere in the house, she turned to give orders to the servants to search the entire house from top to bottom. Before she could speak, a high pitched scream tore through the air. Lupa felt her heart stop. She knew that it was Remus who had screamed. Without a word to the servants, she tore out of the room, down the stairs and out the back door.

There she came to a sudden stop. Her mind was having trouble comprehending the sight in front of her and she had frozen for a moment. Remus was on the ground, Paddy a few feet from his outstretched hand, a large wolf standing over him. Its mouth and claws were stained red with Remus' blood from the wounds she could see marring his body from this distance.

It was no ordinary wolf. Regular wolves rarely ventured this close to the village and were incapable of entering a fenced in yard.

In that single moment that Lupa stood frozen, the wolf raised its head and looked straight at her. Their eyes met for just a second before the wolf turn and ran towards the forest.

Like a spell had been broken, Lupa unfroze and ran to Remus.

"Remus!" She shouted, dropping to the ground next to her brother, ignoring the blood stained grass.

"Remus! Remus, open your eyes! Please, Remus, you have to open your eyes."

Remus didn't open his eyes. He didn't even stir. Lupa could hear the servants running up behind her but her attention was focused solely on her brother. He was bleeding heavily from multiple wounds all over his chest. There was also a bite on one shoulder.

"Open your eyes Remus." Lupa begged. "Open your eyes for me."

Five incredibly long minutes later, Remus opened his eyes slightly. Lupa let out a sob of relief upon seeing that her brother was still alive. She had to suppress the desire to gather Remus into her arms and never let him go. He was still bleeding and his wounds needed tending to immediately.

"John, come here." She commanded.

The servant came immediately to her side.

"Carefully pick Remus up and carry him to his room."

John didn't hesitate as he bent down and gently gathered the small, fragile body of his young master in his arms. Under Lupa's watchful eye, he stood up and walked swiftly to the back door. The other servants parted silently for them, eyes fixed on motionless form of Remus.

Lupa remained a step behind the servant as he carried her brother up to his room and gently laid the boy on the bed. He stepped back and Lupa immediately took his spot. Her hand rested lightly on top of Remus' for a minute before she spoke.

"Send for the doctor immediately. Tell him to come at once."

Lupa's voice was flat and emotionless as she spoke. Her eyes never once waved from her brother and were it not for the fact that you could see her shoulders rise and fall slightly with each breath you would have thought she was a statue.

The servants broke up and went back to whatever they were doing before Remus had screamed. One went for the doctor while Emily remained in the room. She hesitantly approached the bed and her voice was soft when she spoke, as if she was afraid of startling Lupa.

"Miss Lupa?" She said hesitantly. "I brought this in from outside. I thought master Remus might want this."

She placed the soft cuddly form of Paddy next to Remus' shoulder. Lupa said nothing but her the corners of her mouth flickered up for a brief second before returning to the thin line.

Deciding not to push it, Emily retreated to the door and sat down in the chair there. John had brought another chair to the bed and Lupa had finally sat down in it, her hand never leaving Remus'.

What seemed like an eternity later, but was really only ten minutes, the servant returned with the village doctor.

The doctor took one look at the child and ordered everyone from the room. Emily had to take Lupa by the arm and guide her to her room. Lupa sat down in a chair and fixed her eyes on the door.

**AN: Good news, my train of thought seems to be moving along again and Sirius has consented to behave himself for a while. Which probably means until tomorrow. Oh well, I'll take what I can get.**

**I am going to be getting back in the habit of answering reviews but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I have a paper that needs finishing first.**

**Thanks to a couple of reviews, I will be going back and adding a little more to the last chapter and chapter 2. The reviews got me thinking and now I have more to add. See what happens when you review?**

**I will also be updating chapter 13 of Outcasts so that it matches up with this chapter.**

**Well, I think that's all I have to say. Oh yeah. Aren't you all glad Outcasts came first and you know that Remus lives?**


	9. Let Him Go

For a half hour, Lupa sat motionless in her chair, staring fixedly at the door. Servants tried to get her to at least drink something but Lupa ignored them. She stared at the door even when servants got in her line of sight and blocked the door from view. Eventually the servants gave up and let her be. Only news about her brother would rouse her from her silent vigil.

An hour ticked by, the soft chime of the old clock on the wall every half hour the only noise in the room. Lupa still hadn't moved. If it wasn't for the very slight rise and fall of her shoulders, the servants would have worried that something was wrong with her. At long last the door the eight year old had been staring at opened and Emily entered the room.

"Miss Lupa, the doctor says you may see your brother now."

Emily had scarcely finished speaking when the girl shot to her feet and was out the door. Emily turned to follow her but Lupa was moving faster than she had thought. By the time Emily reached Remus' room, Lupa was already inside and in the chair next to her brother's bed.

Inside the room, Lupa gently took Remus' hand in her own. It was colder than it should be but perhaps that had something to do with the fact that it hadn't been tucked under the blankets. Carefully, so as not to wake her brother, Lupa stroked her thumb over the back of Remus' hand. Remus shifted slightly and let out a small whimper. Lupa stopped immediately and watched her brother with a look of concern. Remus remained asleep however and so she went back to providing what little comfort she could.

Outside of the room, the village doctor was having some quiet words with the gathered servants.

"Those are no ordinary wounds on the child."

Emily paled. "Do you know what they are?"

The doctor nodded. "I have seen them only once in my life but they are unmistakable. The wolf that injured the child was a werewolf."

Emily somehow grew even paler and looked as if she might faint. Her husband John wrapped a supportive arm around her and drew her in close.

"We need to inform Miss Lupa."

The doctor frowned. "His parents should be informed first. Then they can break it to her."

John shook his head. "That's not possible. Master and Mrs. Lupin are out of town and won't be back for two weeks."

"I'll do it." Emily said in a shaky voice.

She pushed away from John and slowly walked to the door. Pushing it open, she saw that Lupa was still in the same position as last time.

"Miss Lupa?" She says hesitantly.

"Yes?" Lupa's voice is so quiet you have to strain to hear it.

"You should know, the doctor just told us that it was a werewolf that attacked your brother.

Lupa was quiet for a few minutes.

"I knew there was something different about that wolf." She said, looking at the bite on her brother's shoulder. "Tell the doctor I wish to speak with him."

Emily nodded and quickly left the room. The doctor entered a few minutes later.

"Tell me the truth doctor. Will my brother be a werewolf?" Lupa asked, not taking her eyes off her brother?"

The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so." He hesitated for a moment before continuing on. "I feel it is my duty to inform you that the kindest option for your brother would be to end his misery now."

Lupa froze at that.

"You want me to kill my brother." Her voice was cold, a warning to back off.

If the doctor had mentioned this to one of the servants first, they would have immediately told him to never breathe a word of it around the young mistress as she was very protective of her brother. But he hadn't and he didn't hear the warning in Lupa's voice.

"It is the kindest option for him. Werewolf transformations are extremely painful and even if he survives, he'll never be able to live a normal life. It would be better for you to end his misery now rather than subject him to a life of pain."

For the first time since she had entered the room, Lupa stood up and faced the doctor. Her entire posture was stiff and her face expressed coldness. Her eyes were hard; the only emotion in them was love for her brother.

"I will not kill my brother just because you think it's a good idea. My brother will have a normal life; I'll see to it myself. He will have everything he could ever want. Now, I think it best if you take your leave now doctor."

With that, she turned back to her brother and the doctor was left with no option but to leave.

When he stepped into the hall, he found the two worried servants from earlier.

"Is there anything we should be doing for him?" Emily asked anxiously.

The doctor refrained from repeating his suggestion. He had been able to tell instantly that they were loyal servants who wouldn't do anything to hurt the people that they worked for. He had also gotten the impression that Lupa was the kind of child who had had everything handed to her and nothing he could say would convince her servants otherwise.

"Just let him rest and see to it that he eats and drinks. His wounds will heal on their own within a week." He advised.

Emily nodded and went to inform the other servants while John showed the doctor to the door.

Lupa was furious. She couldn't believe that the doctor had suggested that she kill her brother. She'd sooner take a knife and drive it through her own heart. There was not a thing in this world that would convince her to kill her brother. Not even her parents, who were sure to hate Remus even more when they found this out. Thankfully they weren't due back for another two weeks and by then, Remus would hopefully be looking more normal. Most of his wounds were on his chest and those were easily covered.

Looking down at her brother, Lupa noticed the way his face scrunched slightly in pain.

"You will have a normal life Remus. I promise you, I will do everything I can to make sure your life is normal." She promised.

**AN: And that concludes the night Remus was bitten. Yes, I know I've focused on Lupa and Remus for two chapters without any mention of Sirius. The next chapter will focus mostly on them as well and the one after will go back to the mirror pattern. However, I do have plans to work a small part of Sirius into the next chapter. I'm just not entirely sure how that will turn out yet. I only have a vague half-formed idea that's been floating around in my head ever since I wrote The Truth Pt. 2 of Outcasts.**

**In other news, I've only just now realized that there are a few weeks until Easter and after that, I only have a few weeks until finals. I'm starting to freak out a little. It does not feel like I should be nearly done with my sophomore year and halfway through college. Distract me from these thoughts.**

**Before I go, I do need your help with something. What do you guys know about Veelas? It can be what JK has said about them outside of the books or it can be what you believe. Anything you know will be of help to me.**

**Well, until next week I'm going to attempt to stop any more new stories from popping up in my head. I've had four since the last time I updated. It's starting to drive me crazy, having to keep up with all of them.**

**Until next time, feed the squirrels.**


	10. The First Full Moon

Sirius turned over restlessly in his bed and looked out his window. He was supposed to be asleep. His bedtime was hours ago and Lucille would not be happy if she found out he was still awake. Sirius couldn't help himself. He couldn't sleep. Looking back out his window, Sirius found his gaze drawn to the moon. He felt proud when he remembered that it was a full moon. Lucille had just taught him that.

Gazing at the bright moon, Sirius felt a strange feeling in his heart. His ignored it, fascinated by how the moon reflected off everything and lit up his village. Sirius didn't know it, but he would spend future full moon nights restlessly gazing at the moon with that strange feeling in his heart. It would be years before Sirius realized that it felt like the moon was calling him outside.

**OoO**

"Lu?" Remus said a quaver in his voice.

Lupa looked at her brother. It had been a month since Remus had been attacked by the werewolf. As the doctor had promised, Remus' injuries had healed until all that remained of them were scars. Of those scars only the one that ran across his cheek was visible. There was nothing about the scar to suggest that it had been received in a werewolf attack. It looked like a normal scar that a child might receive in a number of ways.

"Yes Remus?" She said.

"I'm scared." Remus whimpered.

Lupa felt her heart break. Tonight was the night of the full moon. In just a few hours the moon would rise and Remus would be forced to undergo a very painful transformation into a werewolf. Any child would be scared of having to endure something like that. It was something no one should have to endure, let alone a four year old child.

Over the last month, Lupa had sent servants out to buy all the books on werewolves they could find. The books were mostly full of prejudice and hatred but they did have a few facts. Those facts had been enough to make Lupa terrified of the upcoming night. She wouldn't let it show though. Remus was already frightened and she needed to be able to reassure him. She couldn't do that if she let her own fear show.

So instead of saying that she was scared as well, Lupa opened her arms.

"Come here, Remus." She said.

Remus came and nestled into her arms, curling up against her chest the way he always did as her arms wrapped around him.

"You don't need to be scared. I promised that I would look out for you tonight, didn't I." Remus nodded against her. "Have I ever broken a promise to you?" This time Remus shook his head. "And I won't." Lupa promised.

She loosened her hold on Remus and pushed him away enough so that she could see his face.

"Look at me, Remus."

Remus looked up and his now amber eyes met her green ones.

"I promise you will be alright tonight. I will be there the entire time and I won't let anything happen to you. Do you believe me?"

Remus nodded, eyes never leaving hers. "I believe you." He said.

Lupa smiled before leaning forward quickly and planting a kiss on the tip of Remus' nose. It had always made him laugh in the past and this time was no exception. Remus giggled and broke away from his sister to avoid future kisses. Lupa wasn't fooled. She knew Remus liked it when she did that and only ran away because it was part of their game.

"Why don't you go pick out a book and we'll read together for a while." She suggested.

Remus' face lit up and he ran to the other side of his room, tripping once on a ball in the middle of the room. If it was any other night, Lupa would have reminded him to pick up his toy and put it away. Because tonight was the first full moon, she decided to ignore it. Remus selected a book from his bookshelf and brought it back to her at a slower pace. Lupa had to smile when Remus held out the book to her.

It was Remus' favorite book, about two children, a brother and a sister, who live in the forest. She had read this book to Remus more times than any other book on his bookshelf. She was surprised that Remus hadn't already memorized it.

"Haven't you memorized this book yet?" She teasingly asked, taking the book.

Remus grinned and shook his head as he climbed up on his bed next to her.

"Alright then. Where did we leave off?"

Remus reached over her arm and opened the book. He flipped the pages until he came to the one held by the book mark. He pointed to a spot on the page and Lupa took a second to marvel at his memory when it came to books. She lifted up her arm and allowed Remus to snuggle closer so he could see the book and began to read.

They got through two more chapters before Emily knocked on the door, informing them that it was time to head to the room where Remus would transform that night. No one knew exactly what happened when a werewolf transformed. They didn't want to take any chance that Remus might destroy something in wolf form so the servants had prepared a room for him to transform in and seen to it that their parents were out of the house for the evening.

Lupa quietly placed the bookmark in the book before closing it and setting it to the side. Remus was scared again. For the last hour Lupa had managed to make him forget his upcoming transformation but the knock on the door had brought both of them back to reality. She got up from the bed first and held out her hand to Remus. Slowly, her brother took it and allowed her to pull him from the bed. They didn't speak as they followed Emily down the hall and came to a stop outside a door neither sibling had known existed. Silently, Emily unlocked the door and let them enter. Lupa and Remus turned to look back at her as she locked the door, Lupa managing a smile while Remus just stood there.

When the door had closed behind them, Lupa turned to her brother.

"Time to get undressed Remus." She said.

Remus nodded and began to unbutton his shirt. He struggled with the top buttons that he couldn't see and Lupa's gentle hands were there, sliding the buttons out of the holes. He dropped his shirt on the floor and went to work on his trousers while Lupa crossed the room to the small table that had been placed there to retrieve the blanket. When she returned to her brother, Remus had dropped his trousers and was shivering in the cold of the room. Lupa draped the blanket around him, tucking it close to keep the warmth in him. Then she picked up his clothes and put them on the table.

Having prepared as much as they could, the siblings sat down on the floor to wait out the last few minutes until moonrise. It wasn't long. Barely two minutes after they sat down, Remus stiffened. Lupa gave him a worried look that went unnoticed as Remus began to tremble violently. Seconds later there was a harsh snapping sound and Remus screamed. Lupa winced and forced herself to remain where she was.

"Lu, help me." Remus begged.

It tore at Lupa to remain where she was sitting instead of going to her brother and helping him. There was nothing she could do. The books had made that very clear. The change would be painful and there was nothing that could be done to alleviate the pain or help the transforming werewolf.

More cracks and Remus screamed louder. Fur was sprouting all over his body and his arms were lengthening. His fingers were turning into claws as Lupa watched.

"Lu." Remus whimpered before screaming louder than he had all in the last few minutes.

His head was transforming now. With a final scream that became a howl halfway through, a full transformed werewolf lay on the ground a few feet from Lupa, panting from the pain.

Lupa stared at the wolf that had taken over her brother. She was surprised and she would admit it. She had been expecting a much bigger wolf than the one that was currently lying in front of her. It took a moment but the explanation eventually occurred to her. The werewolf that had attacked her brother had been an adult. That's why it was bigger than her brother. Remus was only four years old. It would be years before he was a big as the other wolf.

Lupa was pulled from her thoughts by Remus pushing himself to his feet. As she watched, he caught sight of her and instinctively growled, raising his hackles to make himself appear more threatening. Surprisingly, Lupa wasn't nearly as nervous or as frightened as she should be. She knew that all it would take was one swipe of his claws and Remus would be able to render her helpless. But Lupa didn't believe that would happen.

Deciding to take a chance, she held out her hand like she would to a stray dog and waited. Remus seemed surprised by the action and paused in his growling, clearly confused. After a moment, he took a step forward and hesitantly sniffed her hand. Lupa held herself still, knowing that any sudden movement would set Remus off and would result in her injury. Remus sniffed at her hand again before coming to a conclusion.

He nosed her hand out of the way and crouched down in front of her. Lupa slowly lowered her hand and rested it lightly on Remus' head. The wolf whined softly and lifted his head slightly so that her hand slid down his neck. Taking it as a sign that it was ok, Lupa began to pet the wolf. Remus allowed himself to be petted for a few minutes before suddenly springing to his feet and bounding away from the startled girl. He stopped in the middle of the room and appeared to bow down in front of her, letting out an odd sounding bark _'do werewolves bark?´ Lupa wondered_ as he did.

Lupa had the bizarre feeling that Remus was asking her to play. So far, apart from the transformation and the few scratches she could see in the wolf's fur, this night hadn't gone anything like she had been expecting. There would be time to think on that later. Right now, it was clear that Remus wasn't going to hurt her and it looked as if he wanted to play. Lupa pushed herself to her feet and made her way to the wolf. Thus began the first night of play between the werewolf and his human sister.

When the sun rose the next morning, Emily cautiously unlocked the door to the room. It had been a surprisingly quiet night, apart from the two transformations and she had spent the time preparing herself for what she would see when she opened the door. Emily thought she had prepared herself for everything, even the worst, but she was wrong. She wasn't prepared for this. Remus was curled against his sister's back, one arm slung over her protectively. Emily had the image of a werewolf Remus curled against Lupa like that while they slept. She smiled. It looked as if the full moon nights would be better than they had anticipated.

**AN: Okay, I seriously thought about ending it after 'She wasn't prepared for this' but decided not to. There will be cliff hangers in this story, but not right now. So be happy.**

**I've decided to take advantage of the fact that I still have a few weeks before I need to revise for finals and work ahead on this story. I am prewriting the chapters for the next few weeks leading up to my finals and the week of. This way all I will have to do is reread them and check for errors, which takes a lot less time than writing them.**

**Speaking of my finals, I have decided to start posting another story the weekend after them. Summer will be here and I'll have more time for writing. I have come up with ideas for at least one new one and so I'll be updating my profile with the summaries. I want you readers to take a look at the summaries and decide which one you want me to start posting. I will be opening a poll sometime this week so that everyone can choose since most of you don't leave reviews. It will be open until the week of my finals which is the week of May 12. So you have a month to decide and vote.**

**One last thing, I'm going to assume that the newest guest review for the last chapter was from Bottlebrush. It's similar to the other reviews you've posted but it was only signed guest. Let me know if it was you so I can finish replying to reviews this week.**


	11. Lessons

It was official. Sirius was bored out of his mind. The six, soon to be seven, year old had thought his lessons would be fun. At the very least, he had expected them to be interesting. Lucille had told him that he would be learning subjects such as math, reading, and history. Sirius had loved learning when Lucille had taught him and he had thought that his new tutor would be like her. He was wrong.

His tutor was a boring old man named Binns who did nothing but drone on about whatever the subject was without stopping. It would be mind numbing for anyone, let alone a six year old.

"That will be all for today Mr. Black." Binns said, startling Sirius from his thoughts. "We will continue tomorrow."

No longer bored, Sirius leaped up from his desk and ran out of the room. He was free at last. Reaching the hall that led to his brother Regulus' wing, he hesitated for a long moment before making a sudden decision. He turned and ran to Regulus' nursery. Barging into the room, Sirius found his four year old brother on the floor trying to build a house out of his blocks.

"Siri." Regulus cried, dropping his block.

"Hey Reg, What're you doing?" Sirius asked.

"Building." Regulus said with a pout. "It no good."

Looking at his brother's house, Sirius had to agree. Regulus' house was lopsided and looked to be in danger of collapsing.

"Would you like me to help?" Sirius offered.

Regulus' face lit up.

"Yeah." He said eagerly.

Sirius sat down and showed his brother how to build a proper house. They started by knocking down what Regulus had built so far and then starting over from the beginning. Regulus was an eager learner, watching Sirius' every move with wide eyes and soaking up every word he said. Sirius, for his part, was a very patient teacher. He showed Regulus which blocks were best for certain parts of the house and which weren't. Sirius was quick to praise his brother when Regulus caught on and finished the house without any help.

Just as Regulus put the last block in place, the door opened and Lucille and Regulus' nanny entered.

"There you are Sirius. I expected you back an hour ago." Lucille said.

"I wanted to visit Reg." Sirius explained.

"That's fine, but you need to let me know so I'm not worrying. Now, come along Sirius. It's time for your brother's nap."

Regulus pouted at that announcement but didn't protest as his nanny picked him up and carried him to his room. Sirius obediently followed Lucille back to his own wing and into his playroom. It used to be his nursery but Sirius had decided that at six years old, he was too old to have a nursery and so it had become a playroom.

"Now, why don't you tell me about your lessons?" Lucille said, sitting down in her chair and holding her arms out to Sirius.

The young boy eagerly climbed onto her lap. He usually protested anything that made him appear to be a baby, but he loved sitting on Lucille's lap. It was always warm and never failed to make him feel safe.

"They were boring." He complained.

"Why are they boring?" Lucille asked with a smile.

"Binns doesn't make them fun. Not like you did. He uses all these old dusty books to teach from instead of teaching math with objects like you used to do. He makes me practice reading from boring old books and doesn't use stories to teach history." Sirius rattled off, sounding like he had been waiting all morning to say that.

Lucille laughed. "Give him time Sirius. I'm sure it will get better."

"No it won't." Sirius pouted. "Can't you just teach me?"

"You know I can't pup." Lucille said, sounding sorry about that fact. "Your parents want you to have a tutor. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Yes you can." Sirius said sitting up.

One look at his face showed he truly believed that. While she was flattered by his faith in her, Lucille knew that Sirius was too young to understand that she truly couldn't do anything about it. She was only a servant. Granted, a high ranking servant, but still a servant. And servants did not tell their employers what to do.

With that in mind, Lucille decided to change the subject.

"How about we go for a walk?" She suggested.

Sirius lit up at the possibility of getting out of the house and nodded eagerly. He ran from the room, leaving an amused Lucille to catch up to him in his room. Sirius was standing by his closet, impatiently waiting for Lucille to get his wraps out. Lucille did so and barely had time to get her own wraps on before Sirius was charging out of the room and down the stairs.

Lucille was content to let him run, knowing that Sirius would wait for her by the door, until she heard a crash. Hurrying down the last few steps, she arrived in the hall to find Sirius tangled on the floor with a servant girl who looked to be his age. Clothes were strewn around them and a basket was lying close to the girl.

Lucille hurried forward and managed to separate the two without hurting them.

"Are you two alright?" She asked.

The servant girl nodded but Sirius said nothing.

"Sirius?"

"You should watch where you're going." Sirius shouted at the girl, surprising both her and Lucille. "You could have torn my cloak. Don't you know who I am? I'm Sirius Black. I can get you fired if you don't apologize."

The girl looked as if she was going to start crying and opened her mouth to apologize. Lucille's ringing voice cut her off.

"Sirius Black!"

Sirius froze and shot a wide eyed look at his nanny.

"Apologize to her this instant." Lucille ordered.

Sirius became defiant. "No."

"Sirius." Lucille's voice took on a warning tone.

"Why should I? She hit me." Sirius grumbled.

"No, you hit her. You were the one who came charging down the stairs without looking where you were going." Lucille pointed out.

Sirius looked as if he wanted to argue but one look at the stern look on Lucille's face stopped him.

"Apologize Sirius or we will go back upstairs and I will give you work to do for the rest of the day."

Sirius didn't want to apologize convinced as he was that he was right but he also didn't want to go upstairs and do work instead of going for a walk. So he swallowed and mumbled out an apology.

"I'm sorry for hitting you."

The servant girl nodded, gathered up the clothes, and disappeared through a nearby door.

"Why did I have to apologize to her?" Sirius asked as they left the manor. "She's a servant."

"Just because she's a servant doesn't mean that you don't apologize to her. Just because you are a Black doesn't mean that you can't own up to your mistakes. You need to learn that, my pup."

Sirius wasn't sure about that but if Lucille thought he should learn it then it was worth thinking about.

**OoO**

Six year old Remus was not happy as he stomped around his room. The full moon was this weekend and he was not looking forward to it. He hated his life.

Remus threw himself on his bed, burying his face in his pillows. He couldn't see how his life could get any worse. He was a werewolf whose parents hated him. Although that last part wasn't anything new. His parents had hated him for as long as he had been alive. Remus could count on one hand the number of times he had been in the same room as his parents. That number was significantly higher than the number of times they had spoken to him.

A familiar knock on the door brought Remus out of his depressing thoughts for a moment. He turned his head and saw his sister enter the room.

"If you're trying to hide, you're doing a terrible job of it." Lupa said.

"I'm not trying to hide." Remus mumbled into his pillow.

"Then do you have a headache? Or feel ill?" Lupa asked in concern. She put her hand on his forehead, feeling for a temperature that didn't exist. "You don't feel warm."

Remus batted her hand away.

"I'm not ill." He grumbled.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You never could lie to me, Remus." Lupa said lightly. "Now, tell me what's wrong."

Remus briefly considered not telling her but he knew Lupa well enough to know that she wouldn't let up until he told her.

"I hate my life." Remus announced.

Lupa was quiet for a long time after that announcement. Remus could sense that he had surprised her. Normally Remus was a happy child who didn't worry about anything. Occasionally he became moody before the full moon but it had never been as bad as it was now.

At last Lupa asked "What brought this about?"

Remus shrugged. He wasn't sure what had brought this about. All he knew was that he hated his life today.

"Why do you hate your life?" Lupa asked.

Remus gave a derisive snort. "Isn't it obvious? I'm a werewolf."

Lupa was quiet for another long minute after that. Then she stood up, walked to the closet and pulled out Remus' wraps.

"Put these on." She ordered, tossing the wraps on the bed.

"Why?" Remus asked petulantly.

"We're going for a carriage ride." Lupa answered. "Now, get those on and meet me out front in five minutes."

Not waiting for any further protests, Lupa swept from the room, presumably to get her own wraps. No matter how miserable Remus was feeling, he didn't want to upset his sister. Lupa was the one person who loved him unconditionally. Remus never wanted to upset her. Lupa might stop loving him then. He pulled his wraps on and hurried down the steps. Lupa was waiting for him by the gate. A carriage was just outside the gate, waiting for them to get in.

"Where are we going riding?" Remus asked.

"Around the village." Lupa answered. "After you."

Remus clambered into the carriage and sat by one of the windows. Lupa took a seat across from him and the footman closed the door behind her. A second later the carriage shook slightly as the footman took his place next to the driver. Then the carriage left the gate and began its journey into the village.

Lupa said nothing during the trip. Remus couldn't read her mood like he normally could and so had no idea if his sister was angry with him or if she was thinking. So he kept quiet and waited for her to speak first.

It wasn't until they reached an area of the village that Remus recognized as the area where the poor families lived that the carriage stopped and Lupa spoke.

"What do you see?"

Remus was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Out the window." Lupa said, indicating the window between them.

Remus was still confused but obeyed his sister and pulled back the curtain. He peered out the window and saw the run down houses that looked in danger of collapsing. He got the feeling that wasn't what Lupa wanted to hear and kept looking. It took a moment but then he saw children run past the window. They were covered head to toe in dirt and their clothes were just as dirty and torn.

"Do you see the children, Remus?" Lupa asked quietly.

Remus nodded, watching the children play.

"Most of them are your age. How many of them do you think can read or have the opportunity to attend the village school and learn how to read.

Remus knew the answer. "A few of them."

"If their lucky." Lupa agreed. "Most of them don't have a home to go to. They sleep in an alley, using scraps of cloth as blankets. They don't have anyone to look out for them and make sure they eat.

"You might be a werewolf, but you have a better life than these children. You have a home, blankets to keep you warm at night, and you have a lot of people looking out for you and making sure you eat. These children don't have that. If anyone has the right to hate their life, it's them. But they don't. Their happy with what they do have and they make the best out of it. Do you understand?"

And Remus did. He was a werewolf, yes, but he did have the better life. He had a better life than the children who lived in the nicer parts of the village. And here he was complaining that he hated his life because he was a werewolf. He was ashamed of himself.

Remus hung his head. "I'm sorry Lu."

Lupa's gloved hand lifted his head until he was looking in her sparkling eyes.

"It's alright Remus. Everyone has those moments. I did."

Remus' eyes widened. He couldn't imagine Lupa ever hating her life.

"You did?" He asked.

Lupa laughed. "I used to when I was younger. But then you were born and I no longer hated my life. Now, I think it's time we went back home."

**AN: To all my readers who celebrate it Happy Easter! To those of you that don't Happy Sunday! Hope your weekend is going well for all of you.**

**So this turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would. How many of you thought it would be the boys getting lessons from tutors or something similar? I did consider that briefly but then Sirius' lesson popped up and I decided that would be better. It took me a while to figure out what lesson Remus could learn. After all, it seems like he has the ideal life, apart from being a werewolf and being ignored by his parents. And that's when I decided that he needed to see that. We all have moments like Remus does where we hate our life.**

**I will be posting a one shot here soon. It is not related to Outcasts in any way but it's an idea that came to me a few days ago when reading another one shot and so I decided to run with it. I just don't know when I'll be able to write it down as I have Easter dinner with my family later so it may not get done until tomorrow. As of right now, the title will be 'Your Smile' unless it changes.**

**I need your guys' help. One of my new stories that I've posted the summary for on my profile doesn't have a name yet. It is the one called Unnamed at the moment. I need you guys to read the summary and then suggest a name for it. Your name could be picked or it might not be exactly right but it could help me figure out the right name. Either way you will get credit for helping name the story whenever I start posting it.**

**Until next time.**


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